Does red wine reduces the risk of prostate cancer?

October 5, 2004 by

It may but, but the data are not definitive enough to say for sure.

Last month, researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA said they found that men who drank four or more glasses of red wine per week reduced their prostate cancer risk by about half.

Moreover, the researchers, led by epidemiologist Janet L. Stanford, found that beer, hard liquor and white wine did not show the same protective effect.

Perhaps even more intriguing, Stanford said in a telephone interview, red wine consumption seemed to have its most potent effects against the most aggressive kinds of prostate cancer. The key, she said, may be a well-known antioxidant, resveratrol, found in greater abundance in the skins of red grapes than white. Resveratrol may block cell growth in prostate cancer, enhance the tendency for cancer cells to commit “suicide” and weakly block, androgen, the hormone that often drives prostate cancer. It also blocks inflammation and the growth of new blood vessels that often grow around tumors.

So, should men start guzzling red wine? No, but if you ‘re a drinker, you might consider substituting red wine for the white wine, beer or spirits you already consume.

This is just one study (of about 1,500 men, half with prostate cancer and half without) in a very mixed literature of studies, said Dr. Marc Garnick, a prostate cancer specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and executive vice president of Praecis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Some researchers think that a diet low in animal fat and high in lycopene, found in cooked tomatoes, may be protective. It’s possible, though still debatable, that chocolate, vitamin A, vitamin E soy products and a mineral called selenium may also be protective.